


Nowhere to Go

by red_jaebyrd



Series: Putting Together the Broken Pieces [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Batbrothers (DCU), Batbrothers (DCU) Bonding, Batman has issues, Big Brother Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce screwed up, Gen, Hurt Tim Drake, Hurt/Comfort, Not Batman bashing, Protective Jason Todd, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim Drake-centric, Tim is paying for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24526564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_jaebyrd/pseuds/red_jaebyrd
Summary: Tim had a killer headache and he realized flying across rooftops was not the best or safest idea in his current condition. Going back to the Manor was out of the question as was going to Dick’s apartment now that he was ‘Ric’. He had nowhere else to go. His only option now was Jason.Where did Tim go after the horrific altercation with Bruce in Batman #71?
Relationships: Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: Putting Together the Broken Pieces [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823767
Comments: 14
Kudos: 518





	Nowhere to Go

Tim never thought Bruce would ever hit him, but it happened. There was no warning. No way to prepare for the blow that Bruce dealt to Tim’s face.

He knew that Bruce had been in a bad place, everyone did. After Dick getting shot and forgetting who he was and then Selina had left, everything with Bruce just went downhill. This thing with Bane had messed with his mind so much there was no talking to him. He was fixated on this conspiracy that Bane had somehow taken over Arkham, released the prisoners and was running the city. However, all evidence suggested that Bane was lying comatose in his cell.

Bruce had been quiet the entire time back to the roof, which wasn’t unusual. Bruce was a thinker, just like Tim. Tim could always get through to Bruce. He could always appeal to Bruce’s logic. It was what connected them as partners and as a family. But tonight he thought he would try a different tactic, one that he thought that Dick would have used…empathy.

Tim’s head snapped back as Bruce’s fist connected to the left side of his jaw. It was the worst kind of whiplash as Bruce had not pulled back his punch. He fell hard to the ground hastily using his hands to brace his fall. The entire left side of Tim’s face was numb at first, but then it started to throb. He could feel a lump in his throat and his eyes started to water, but he pushed it all down.

It’s not like he had never taken a punch to the face before. Physical confrontations were part of being Red Robin. However, most of the criminals he encountered were such lousy fighters that he could read their body enough to know where to plant his feet and shift out of an oncoming punch. This time there had been no time for evasive techniques. Bruce was well trained in hand to hand combat and Tim’s face felt like it had been hit by a moving brick.

He sat on the ground dazed, trying to ignore the ringing in his ears. He thought he heard someone calling his name. It was muffled, like hearing sounds underwater. The next thing he knew someone was in his face. He could see their lips moving, but he couldn’t really register what they were saying. It was Damian.

He flinched on instinct when Damian stretched out his hand to move Tim’s face. He could see Damian turn angrily and shout something at Bruce. The rage in Bruce’s unchanging face sent a jolt of fear through Tim. Using the last of the adrenaline still pumping through his veins, Tim pulled out his grappling gun and swung off the roof.

He had a killer headache and he realized flying across rooftops was not the best or safest idea in his current condition. Going back to the Manor was out of the question as was going to Dick’s apartment now that he was ‘Ric’. He had nowhere else to go. His only option now was Jason.

Jason had a safehouse outside the city that Tim knew he occasionally used. He could patch himself up, crash there for a few days, maybe stock up on supplies. Hopefully Jason would never know he was there.

After hacking through Jason’s security system, he entered through the window and quietly headed to the bathroom hoping to find a first aid kit. Sure enough he found a small red duffle under the sink. He was relieved to find several instant ice packs and full bottle of painkillers. Now he just hoped this place had food and water and a change of clothes. He swallowed the painkillers dry and broke and shook the ice pack activating it.

Tim wandered around the studio apartment. It was an open plan with a sizable kitchen (no surprise as Jason liked to cook) and a small round kitchen table with two chairs. A media area was in the corner with a 55 inch TV mounted on the wall with a small foldout futon in front. There was a dresser against the opposite wall of the media area next to a large shelf filled with books. Tim hoped there were spare clothes in the dresser and not weapons.

In the dresser he found a clean pair of sweats, a shirt and a red hoodie to change into. The painkillers started to gradually take effect, so Tim made his way to the futon. He broke up another icepack and fell asleep.

_Let me…let us. Help you._

_I don’t need your help, Tim._

_Bruce…I know you loved her._

_You…YOU DON’T KNOW A DAMN THING!_

Tim jolted awake by the nightmare. He was breathing heavily trying to catch his breath, but failing. The room was dark. Someone touched his shoulder. He then reflexively threw out a punch not paying attention to who was in front of him. He didn’t hit anything; instead his fist was blocked by a strong hand.

“What the hell, Tim it’s just me…what’s gotten into you?”

Someone turned on a light.

Tim sat up and looked around frantically taking in his surroundings. He couldn’t remember where he was or why his face hurt so much. Then he remembered, Bruce had punched him and he took off to Jason’s safe house. He was able to slow his breathing once he realized where he was at.

“Shit, Tim! What the hell happened to your face?”

“Wha’?” Tim mumbled. “Jay, whad’ er you doin’ ‘ere?”

“It’s my house. I can ask you the same question, but first things first. What the hell happened to your face, Tim?”

Tim touched his face and winced. His jaw hurt so bad it was making it difficult to talk. “It’s par’ ov’ da job.”

Jason didn’t look convinced. “I’ve seen you on the job and you would never let some fucker do that to your face. You’re too good of a fighter.”

Jason sat down next to Tim and moved to touch Tim’s face, probably to get a better look but Tim flinched again. Dammit, he really needed to get that under control.

Tim sighed. “S’rry”.

Jason’s expression softened. His hands raised in a placating manner. “I’m not going to hurt you, Timbers. I just want to take a better look at your face. Make sure nothing is broken, may I?” Jason asked, pointing to Tim’s face.

Tim nodded. Jason gently tilted his chin up and prodded his face to see if anything was broken. Tim figured it was likely hard to tell with all the swelling. Nothing felt broken, just sore. The painkillers had worn off and the ringing in his ears was back.

“Tim?” Jason broke the silence once he was done examining at Tim’s jaw. “Who did this to you?”

Tim shook his head. He could feel the lump in his throat returning. He tried to rein in the tears, but the dam broke. Tears started to well up in his eyes, and before he could stop himself he started sobbing. It was too painful to admit it out loud that the person responsible for his bruised up face was Bruce. He didn’t want to tell Jason. Telling Jason would make it more real, and he didn’t want it to _be_ real.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, you’re okay. You don’t have to tell me if you’re not up for it.” Jason consoled, putting his arm around Tim in a one armed hug. Tim leaned into the hug and continued to cry.

“You can crash here until you start to feel better. I’ll go to the store in a bit and get some soft foods; your jaw is going to be sore for a while.”

Just then Jason’s phone started ringing. He looked at the caller ID and it was Barbara. He answered it.

“I told you BG, I don’t care about the color of that damn light. I’m not heading over there. Did you tell him about my new crowbar and where he can stick it? What? Yeah Tim’s with me. Why?”

Tim took a few deep breaths to help himself calm down faster. He was no longer sobbing, but the tears still rolled down his face. There was no doubt in Tim’s mind that Barbara was telling Jason what happened. At this point Tim was relieved it was someone else and not him.

_“BRUCE_ DID THAT TO TIM’S FACE?! SONOFABITCH!”

Tim felt a bit ashamed for not telling Jason straight out, but truthfully he couldn’t get the words out. He still couldn’t even wrap his brain around the fact that it happened in the first place. Bruce had struck him for no reason and without provocation. It all still felt like a really bad dream.

“Hitting _me_ I can understand. I’m an asshole. I bring that out in him, but not Tim. Tim didn’t deserve that left cross to the jaw.”

Tim’s ears started ringing badly from all of the yelling and his jaw started to throb. Jason must have noticed because he got up from the futon and crossed over to the fridge with his phone still held at his ear. He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

“How do you _think_ he’s doing? He just got punched in the face by a rage-filled Bruce. The whole left side is all swollen and he can barely get any words out. I’ll be lucky if I can get any food in him.”

Tim hoped that Jason was exaggerating about his face.

Jason handed the water to Tim as he made his way to the bathroom to get two more pain pills and another ice pack. He broke and shook the ice pack for Tim and handed him the pills.

“He’s in good hands, don’t worry. He’s going to stay here.”

Tim took the pills with water this time and mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Jason as he lightly pressed the ice pack to his face. He started to fall asleep just as he heard Jason yell again on the phone.

“WHERE IS HE NOW?”

* * *

Tim woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee and thanked God that drinking coffee didn’t require chewing. Jason was in the kitchen and it looked like he made oatmeal from scratch.

“Morning, Babybird. I made breakfast. I didn’t know what fixings you liked in your oatmeal, so there’s brown sugar, cinnamon and milk if it’s too thick.”

“Thanks.”

“How’s the jaw? It looks like you still have swelling, but it’s not as bad as last night.”

“It still hurts, but the ringing in my ears is gone.” Tim answered, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“I always hated the ringing and the headaches. So you want to tell me your side of the story?”

Tim ladled some oatmeal into a bowl adding a bit of brown sugar and milk. “What for, you already heard everything from Barbara.”

“Tim, I want you to hear me. You know you didn’t do anything wrong, right?”

Tim gave a small nod, but deep down he wasn’t convinced. He quietly walked over to the small table and sat down across from Jason. He kept his eyes on the bowl and stirred it listlessly.

“Look at me, because I need you to believe it. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Jason repeated, emphasizing every word of the last sentence. “Okay?”

Tim nodded.

“The tension around him was so palpable, Jason. I should have seen it as a warning.” Tim shook his head, idly stirring his oatmeal. “I shouldn’t have pushed. Talking to him just seemed like something Dick would have done.”

“Dick is the talker, but Tim, you didn’t push or provoke him. According to Barbara you were all empathizing with his pain and loss. It’s not like you defied him and shot Cobblepot in the face on live TV.”

“You didn’t kill Cobblepot and you also didn’t deserve that beating either, Jason.”

Jason shrugged. “What can I say? I bring it out in him.”

Tim shook his head again. “He wasn’t himself. What if…what if Bane really did do something to mess with his mind?”

“It would explain the rage, but it still doesn’t give him a reason to be an asshole.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

They ate in companionable silence. Once he finished his oatmeal Tim folded his arms on the table and rested his head in defeat.

“What do you want to do, Tim?” Jason asked, pouring more coffee into Tim’s mug.

Tim wasn’t sure. Truthfully he wanted to forget this whole thing had ever happened. Could he even forgive Bruce for this? Most likely. Would Bruce even acknowledge his transgression and apologize to Tim? Probably not.

What did he want to do? He wanted to get Dick back. He wanted Jason back into the fold. He wanted to have his family back.

Tim sighed “I don’t know right now, but can I stay here for a while? Until I get things figured out?”

“Stay as long as you want, Bro”.

“Thanks."

Jason got up from the table. He gathered up the dirty dishes, put them in the sink and started the water. Tim finished the remainder of his coffee and brought the mug to the counter. He searched the kitchen drawers for a dish towel. Once he found one he grabbed a rinsed clean dish and started to dry it.

“’Bout time you earned your keep, Nerd.”

Tim laughed, elbowing him in the ribs. “Whatever, Jerk”.


End file.
